BERLIN, March 23 (Reuters) - A German court sentenced a 17-year-old male to seven years in a youth detention centre on Friday for trying to kill 33 people in a stabbing spree at the opening of Berlin's central rail station last year.

The youth attacked 41 people in a drunken frenzy at the firework celebrations in May. Most received preventative treatment for the HIV virus that causes AIDS after it emerged that one of the first people to be stabbed was HIV positive.

"The victims, some of whom sustained life-threatening injuries, were deeply affected by the events, some of them even badly traumatised with lasting consequences for their lives," the Berlin court said in a statement after the closed trial.

The youth, who was 16 at the time of the attack, carried out the stabbings as a show of power but may not have been aware of what he was doing due to his inebriated state, the court said.

He did not intend to kill, but was also indifferent about whether any of his victims died, it added. The court referred to the youth only as "Mike P.". He is from Neukoelln, a south Berlin district with a large immigrant population.

The attack raised some concerns about security plans for the soccer World Cup, which Germany hosted in June and July last year. The tournament passed without any major trouble.

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